


Faith of the Heart

by gingayellow



Series: The AU where Shiro is an ex-Borg in Star Trek land but still living out his nerd dreams [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2016-09-28
Packaged: 2018-08-18 06:40:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8152597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingayellow/pseuds/gingayellow
Summary: In which ex-Borg Commander Takashi Shirogane realizes just how much his tiny Bajoran almost boyfriend loves him. [Star Trek AU! Shiro/Keith. Lance/Hunk and Allura/Shay as side pairing, although I hope to write more for both soon.]





	

Title: Faith of the Heart  
Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender  
Characters/Pairing: Shiro/Keith, Lance/Hunk, Allura/Shay  
Rating: PG  
Disclaimer: Not mine, anything mentioned here by name isn't mine  
Warnings: Touches briefly on past trauma  
Notes: Star Trek (specifically TNG/DS9/VOY era Star Trek) AU. 

I'm working on wips/exchange fics, but I wanted to do something different. This is a tiny fragment of a much longer AU I've been plotting out pretty much since the series aired on Netflix and I finished it in one day (Star Trek AUs are my thing). As a result, it's in media res, so here's a really quick run down: Keith, Allura, and Coran are all Bajoran (and former Resistance fighters). Pidge is a Romulan who's looking for her father and brother after the Romulan government made them disappear. Hunk is a Klingon bartender/mechanic/chef/opera singer/former warrior. Shiro is a human was turned into a Borg for a bit, but got better. Lance is... the obligatory happily married Human everyman (the O'Brien). Allura's the captain bc lbr, Shiro is the first officer, Keith is the pilot. Lance is chief of security, and Pidge is chief engineer (and a civilian). Hunk is also a civilian. Coran is CMO.

There's a little discussion of how they all wound up serving on the same ship, which I will hopefully at some point be able to write out, if only for my benefit.

The title is from the Enterprise theme song, which actually has grown on me quite a bit as I watch Enterprise (the only Trek series I have yet to finish, but I'm working on that). And it's definitely Shiro's image song in my head. XD

Story wise, I would say this take place right after DS9/the Dominion War. Everyone is in their late 20s/early 30s in this verse, since they're all veterans and/or officers (except Pidge, who's about 15-16).

 

\--

 

“Will you let me do my job, Pidge?!” Doctor Coran snarled as he grabbed Shiro’s right shoulder.

“I will, once you let me do my job!” Chief Engineer Pidge snarled back as she yanked Shiro's right/Borg hand from Coran. “I need to run a diagnostic to make sure—”

“Yes, yes, so all those adorable nanobots are running smoothly,” Coran said with a dramatic twirl of his mustache. “Well, I’ve been entrusted with making sure those bold fellows don’t mess with his brain or body, and that's priority. Isn’t that right, Commander Shirogane?”

“Coran—”

“See, he agrees. Now step aside, or I’ll have you demoted.”

“Joke’s on you.” Pidge’s eyes glinted dangerously. “I’m a civilian, remember?”

“With an honorary rank that I’ll honorably demote!”

“I’ll honorably punch you in the face—”

“Enough!” Shiro had been hoping one of them would see reason, but that wasn’t happening. So while all he wanted to do was sleep the worst of his injuries off, he had to enter Commander mode. “Doctor Coran, you’re an adult and an officer. Pidge, you’re the daughter of a Romulan Senator and our chief engineer. Both of you should know better than to argue, especially after an away mission went badly.” He hadn’t even gotten to see Keith (who’d been hit with a phaser blast head on) yet.

Coran cleared his throat. “You’re right, Commander.” 

Pidge grumbled guiltily. “But we both need to look at your arm.”

Shiro flexed his metal fingers. They still moved with the eerie perfection that only the Borg possessed. “I’m fine for now, but I’ll let you know if things change. Now,” and with a little effort he hopped off the bed, “I want to see Keith.”

“You can, but all he’s going to do is snore.” Coran gave him one last look over with a tricorder. “The lad will live, but he just came out of surgery. Even with a Federation sick bay, he needs at least twenty-six hours to heal. Nurse Shay’s sedated him so he can get just that.”

Shiro nodded. “I’ll make my visit brief, then.” He knew Keith would be fine. Coran was eccentric, but also the best doctor he’d met. Shay was every bit as good. He just wanted to sooth his own nerves, that was all. Once he saw Keith resting comfortably, then he could return to duty—

Keith stumbled into the room, drenched in sweat, eyes wild. “Shiro?!?”

Shay was there in an instant, grabbing his arms, but even in this state Keith was strong-willed and squirmy—there was only so much Shay could do without hurting him.

“Keith.” Shiro kept his voice and body language soothing. “It’s okay. We both safe. See?” He smiled as much as he could, given the current situation.

Keith struggled against Shay’s grip. “Then why am I being kidnapped?!”

Oh, dear. “You’re not.” He glanced at Shay, who nodded. Shiro closed the distance between them, taking Keith’s face in his hands. “You’re safe, buddy. I promise.”

That seemed to work. Keith relaxed suddenly, eyes closing as he leaned into Shiro’s touch. “Good.”

“Mm. Now you need to rest, okay?”

Keith’s eyes opened, and a bit of the fight was back in him. “What about you—?”

“I’m fine. You just take care of yourself.”

“Okay,” Keith murmured. And then he kissed the Borg hand before Shay guided him back to his bed.

Shiro wondered if maybe he needed to lie down as well.

\--

Ultimately, he decided not to lie down, but use his remaining free time to visit Ten Forward. The smell of gagh and sound of Klingon love songs were comforting in their familiarity (it also meant that everyone’s favorite chef/mechanic/former Klingon opera star Hunk was at work) as he took a seat. “I’ll have a root beer,” he informed the waiter. “In the largest cup you have.” 

As he waited, the song ended, and Hunk took a seat next to him. “Commander,” he said with an easy smile. “Matters of war, or matters of the heart?”

“What do you mean?”

Hunk gave him a knowing look. “You only order that much root beer if it’s one or other,” he said sagely. “So! Who do you want to kill or kiss? Or possibly both?”

“Hunk, please.” Shiro smiled weakly as the waiter who returned with the root beer, then took a long sip. He focused on how sweet and bubbly the drink was. “You probably heard about how that away mission went badly.”

Hunk nodded grimly. “I did. Of course, it helps that I’m married to the chief of security.”

“Which reminds me, is Lance—”

“My Par’Mach’kai is made of steel,” Hunk assured him. “But what about you and Keith?”

“I’m fine. My Borg arm took most of the damage, and Pidge can fix in her sleep. Keith got hurt, but he’ll recover. But I think…”

“But you think?”

“I think he’s a little delirious, because he kissed this hand.” Shiro held up his right hand for emphasis.

Hunk blinked, then tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Perhaps. But sometimes a warrior needs to feel the heat of battle to understand what truly matters.”

Shiro frowned. Was this leading to a Klingon metaphor? “I don’t understand.”

Hunk gave him a look. “You and Keith have something, right?”

They’d known each for years. He’d met Keith during the end of the Cardassian Occupation, and had been impressed with the young Resistance fighter’s skills—even when the introduction to said skills had involved nearly getting stabbed, because Keith hadn’t been told that a Starfleet officer would be coming and assumed Shiro was a threat. He’d sponsored Keith’s application to Starfleet, and visited him in San Francisco whenever he had time off. And Keith… Keith had thrown all of that away to save him from the Borg. The only reason he was still in the fleet was because his old friend Allura had become a captain. 

“I’d like to think that we do,” he said to Hunk.

“Then is it really surprising that he’d love all of you, Borg and Human?”

“Yes,” Shiro said with more emotion than he meant to.

Thankfully, Hunk didn’t say anything. He just took a moment to rest a hand on Shiro’s shoulder. 

“I know it’s foolish to obsess over this,” Shiro admitted, gazed fixed on his right hand. It was mix of grey metal and black wire. His left hand drifted to right above his left eye, where the ocular implant was. “But I’ve changed so much.”

“And Keith accepts that.”

“Yeah.” Despite everything, Shiro felt himself smile. “Thanks, Hunk.”

Hunk grinned toothily. “Anytime, my friend. Now finish your root beer; you need to relax before work tomorrow.”

Shiro did just that.

\--

Keith didn’t hurt anymore, but his body felt numb all over. So while he wanted to sit up and greet Shiro, all he could really do was stare at him.

“Hey.” Shiro took a seat, looking excited and anxious at the same. “Keith, feel free to refuse me, but I was wondering, if um.” He looked away.

“Keep going.” He felt weird and woozy, but he was going to hear what Shiro had to say.

“Captain Altea and her wife Shay invited me to dinner in their quarters this weekend. They said it would be all right if I brought a date.” He glanced at Keith. “Which is not very exciting, but I thought maybe—”

“You had me at dinner.” Shiro grinned, which was a relief. And then—he wasn’t sure why—Keith gently took the metal hand and pressed it to his lips.

Shiro was still smiling.


End file.
